Red Temper
by MentalMixUp
Summary: After closing an easy case, the CBI recieves a clue toward catching the serial killer, Red John.  **JISBON** **RIGSPELT**
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Okay, so this Chapter is written by me, Mentalgal, and I hope I got the character's actions to suit them! Also thanx to my parter-in-writing, Devon. (o: Read, Review, Enjoy xD

"But Lisbon, you KNOW he's good for it! Bring him in!"

"Jane, you know the deal! No proof, no arrest. I can't just walk in and arrest the guy because our consultant has a hunch that he may have committed the murder!"

Jane refused to leave Lisbon's side as they walked speedily through the CBI, Lisbon aiming to get to her office in order to find some proof to use against the, most likely, murderer.

Jane just didn't get it. Didn't he get that she literally couldn't arrest him without something to arrest him for? Lisbon opened the door to her office while Jane was still blabbering on about something to do with it "not being fair" and "Show some metal Lisbon" And to Jane's great surprise she shut it in his face.

Jane stared at the door in front of him. Gosh, Lisbon could get so moody sometimes! If he hadn't jumped back in time the door would have hit him in the nose! Hit him in the nose… that was it! All he had to do was pester Dronam, he who Jane knew was the murderer, enough to get him to punch Jane, in front of Lisbon, so she could arrest him on assault charges! Oh, what a wonderful mind he had!

Lisbon sat in her office with her forehead resting on her left hand, which was supported by her arm leaning on the corner of her desk dangerously. Lisbon knew Jane was right. And, she also knew that she had absolutely naught to hold Dronam on.

"LISBON!"

Lisbon jumped at the sudden entry to her office, and as doing so she accidentally moved her arm just far enough for her head to collide with her desk. She immediately brought her head up and clutched the already bruised skin with her hand as her gaze moved up to Jane.

"Woah Lisbon, you okay?" He rushed over to her side and as she moved her hand off her head and he looked at the small bruise with concentration.

"Whatever Jane. What the hell do you want?" her eyes followed his as he stood up and moved from the side to the front of her desk.

"I think we should go see Dronam." He said, a small but visible smile added to his already irksome expression.

"Why."

"Because."

"Why."

"Because."

"No."

"Why?"

"Because."

"Lisbon."

"Jane."

"Please?"

"Why?"

"Because."

"ARRRGGGHHH! Seriously Jane, why?"

"I just want to."

"FINE. Take Van Pelt. She knows the way."

"But I want you to come."

"Why?"

"Because."

"FINE."

Lisbon got up, fuming with anger, grabbed her coat and marched out of the office, once again shutting the door in Jane's face.

Not long after though, he was at her tail once more. They went in Jane's Citroen, purely because Lisbon was too annoyed, irritated and simply irked by him that she couldn't be bothered arguing.

Maybe Jane shouldn't have annoyed Lisbon so much. He didn't mean to make her THIS irked.

They arrived at Mr. Dronam's house within approximately ten silent, uncomfortable minutes. They stepped inside through the open door.

"Mr. Dronam?" Lisbon called out into the house, "CBI. We have a few follow – up questions for you."

Jane noticed movement in the corner of his eye. He turned around just in time to see Dronam pointing a gun at him.

"Lis-"

BANG!

Jane's arm felt like it was on fire.

He looked around, and couldn't see Lisbon anywhere. He put his right hand over the wound on his left upper-arm. It must just be a graze. He stood up, and, clutching his arm tightly as it bled, rushed out the front of the house, following yells of, "CBI! Put the gun down!" then there was a thump, and then Lisbon came out from behind a fence with Dronam handcuffed. "You're under arrest for assault of an officer of the Law. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or do can and will be held against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney…"

Although his arm was burning, Jane couldn't help but smile at the petite figure of Teresa Lisbon in total control of the hulking mass of villain. He chuckled to himself.

Once they were back in the CBI, Jane was all bandaged up, and occasionally whining with a – "Rigsby could you get Lisbon to make me some tea, my arm hurts too much." But after a while he realised he was never actually going to get that cup of tea, and got up off his couch to get it himself. One handed, of course.

Grace came out of interview room 4 with a satisfied look on her face as she strolled into the kitchen.

"Oh hey Jane, let me get that for you. Grace walked over with a spring in her step and reached up to the shelf where Jane kept his favourite tea bags."

"Why thank you Van Pelt, at least someone cares around here." He observed her body language.

"Ah," he said, satisfied by his analysis of the junior agent, "You got a confession."

"Even better," she continued, "I got a confession and a clue. Well, not really a clue, but he said he wanted to see you, because he could only give you this clue."

"Ah, okay. Room 4?"

Van Pelt nodded.

You like? Let us know. Devon will be writing the chapter to come (o:


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello readers! Thank you for your patience as I took forever to write this :P I've been working on Pain Death and Losing You so much, that I didn't have much time to write, but on this fine snow day I thought, no time like the present! So, here it is! I hope you enjoy it! Thank you to Mentalgal for constantly reminding me to write, this probably wouldn't have gotten posted for a while if I didn't wanna get this up for you! This is a bit short, but I didn't want to go into much else because I had a feeling I'd be writing pages and pages, but it's MentalGal's turn now, so if it takes forever it'll be her fault! ;D Not that she ever takes long to update! :D**

**Anyway, thank you to theskydreamer, Taylor Grace and TheOne for reviews, thanks to GraceVanPelt Fan for the Favourite add, and trudes193, theskydreamer, and Taylor Grace for the Alert adds! You all rock! :D**

**Here's chapter 2! Enjoy!**

**-funnygirlOoObroadwaybaby**

Disclaimer- nope, don't own it!

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**Chapter 2**

As Jane walked to the interrogation room, he peeked inside the observation room to see Lisbon's piercing gaze directed at Dronam through the one way mirror. She looked mad as hell. Most likely because Jane was right, but mad none-the-less. Jane continued to the interrogation room and opened the door, greeted by Dronam's chilling smile.

"Hello Mr. Jane." he spoke with no hint of fear or guilt. As if getting caught had been his plan all along, his expression was nearing excitement as Jane sat across the table.

"What do you have to tell me?" Jane asked, examining Dronam's face as he spoke.

"Have you ever been to Lila's. The ice cream parlor?" his voice was that of a pedophile. It was soft, yet his words somehow made Jane's spine tingle.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Jane's temper rose a bit.

"You should try it sometime." Dronam said.

"Is that what you had to tell me?" Jane leaned forward in his chair.

"Try it soon."

Lisbon sat on the other side of the observation mirror, gradually getting more and more angry as Jane and Dronam's conversation continued.

"Damn it, we aren't getting anywhere!" she shouted to herself in the empty room.

Jane continued talking to Dronam, unsure about the murderer's intention of his words.

"Why did you kill her?" Jane asked, directing the conversation back to the murder, "Why her?"

"Because she was there." Dronam continued to smile.

"But why kill her?"

"There are just some things that need to be done. Don't you agree Patrick? Things need to be said. Things need to be committed. You can't ignore yourself. When you feel you must do something, then it should be done." his words stung Jane in a way deeper than just for the pure hatred of the man. It was as if his words were aimed at Jane's plan for revenge against the serial killer who took his wife and daughter. "People can't give up. Giving up just... proves that you are a wimp. A coward. Scared." he added the extra words for emphasis. Jane stood with force, sending his chair screeching across the hard floor.

"Get him out of here," he shouted to Lisbon through the mirror, "we're done."

"Mr. Jane," Dronam got his attention one last time, "Go to Lila's ice cream parlor."

OoO

Dronam was taken out of CBI HQ and brought to the jail, sentenced to life in prison. While he was being taken away, Lisbon and Jane had gotten into the SUV and driven to Lila's Ice Cream Parlor, about 20 minutes from the HQ.

"Why do you think he wants us to come here?" Lisbon asked as she put the car in park in the parking lot.

"There's something he wants us to see." he hastily unbuckled and jumped out of the car, leaving Lisbon alone. He took off inside the parlor. Looking around, everything seemed normal. People sat, smiling and chatting in booths and at the bar. Two employees were working, one at the cash register taking the order of a woman and her child, and one in the back scooping ice cream from a large container. When Lisbon caught up to Jane, everything he had thought would happen disappeared. He had no idea why they were there or what they were doing.

"See anything off?" Lisbon whispered to him, not seeing the significance of this specific place.

"Not yet," he said, "let's stick around for a while though." he led her up to the counter.

"Hello, welcome to Lila's, what would you like?" the young blonde woman at the register asked. Jane and Lisbon ordered, so they wouldn't seem suspicious just waiting around, and took their seats at a booth near the door so they would be able to see the whole place. They got their ice creams and began eating, still watching the place but trying to look like two normal people out for an ice cream. Jane watched at the brown haired employee walked to the other and said something about going out back for a cigarette. The blonde nodded and the older of the two walked out the back door.

"Jane, we're wasting our time. Obviously that was Dronam's intention." Lisbon said, "We should just go back to headquarters and-" Lisbon was cut off by a blood curdling scream from behind the parlor. Both Lisbon and Jane were on their feet within seconds, running behind the counter and out the back. When they reached the door, Jane froze in his tracks and Lisbon continued to the brunette lying lifeless on the ground. Lisbon turned her over so see blood still pouring from a slit in her throat. She looked up at Jane with panicked eyes, and he took off out the back alley, looking for the person who caused this. Who ever it was was already gone, leaving in his wake a bloodied knife and a red smile painted on a dumpster.

Dronam had led them here. He knew this was going to happen. He knew Red John would kill. That meant Dronam was working with Red John.

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**Let us know how you liked it and review please! Thanks for reading!**

**Up next, a chapter from Mentalgal! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

Oh my gosh I am sosooo sorry for how long it has taken me to get this up. I have had so much school work recently, and im barely gripping to it. So much writing! So little time! Thanks so much for those still reading and please review! Love Mentalgal :D

Grace's happy mood had completely vanished when Jane and Lisbon returned. Lisbon had called in with the news and the entire team felt let down. Who could have done it? How could the team get it out of Dronam?

"Dronam has just been sent off to jail, we will have to send someone to interrogate him there, to get him to tell us who it was that murdered the brunette at Lily's." Lisbon said, and with a nod from Cho and a sigh from Rigsby, she new that job was covered.

As the two agents left the bullpen, Lisbon turned to Grace and Jane.

"Vanpelt, I need you to check out Dronam's background, far deeper than before. Find connections. Friends, colleagues, anyone! With criminal backgrounds."

Grace nodded and turned to her computer. Lisbon turned to walk back to her desk, still clearly slightly annoyed at Jane being right yet again. Jane witnessed this, and with a look from Grace, he followed his boss into her office.

Hearing him enter, Lisbon flopped down at her desk with a, "what do you want Jane?" her eyes burning into his with fury.

"Lisbon…" Jane said, sitting down on her couch, "I don't know why you're so angry. I know most of it is that, well… I'm right…" Lisbon looked up at him then rolled her eyes.

"And what else Jane? If you are so damned right all the time, tell me. TELL ME! Why am I so "angry"?"

**MENTALMIXUP**

Meanwhile, Cho and Rigsby had arrived at the prison and were entering Dronam's cell. He was sitting on his bed in the blue uniform that is forced to be worn.

"Hello agents," he said calmly, "I would offer you a drink, but as you can see I am lacking of such privileges. I know what you want and you aren't going to get it."

Cho and Rigsby exchanged glances before Cho spoke.

"Tell us who you got to kill the Lily's Icecream worker and we might be able to cut you a deal."

Dronam did not seem impressed by that offer.

"Well, how about…. No."

MENTALMIXUP

"I am supposed to be your boss Jane." Lisbon said, glaring at him.

"And I am supposed to be your consultant." Jane said simply.

"Then CONSULT! Leave, go home, there's nothing else for you to do here."

"But Lisbon, I-"

"LEAVE!"

…

Grace looked up from her desk to see Jane marching into the bullpen seemingly frustrated.

"Jane? You alright?" she asked gently, but she wasn't given an answer. Jane had gone.

MENTALMIXUP

Cho and Rigsby had been interrogating Dronam for hours, but no-one was getting anything except bored.

Suddenly Dronam spoke, causing both of the agents to jump.

"I do not like being interrogated… I have gone to kill one close to you. He sleeps under the smile of a killer."

Rigsby and Cho suddenly faced eachother.

"Red John."

MENTALMIXUP

Lisbon didn't know why she was so angry, and she didn't really know why she sent Jane home apart from the fact that she was just plain sick of him being right all the time. She sort of wished she hadn't, after all, he hadn't really done anything wrong. Her thoughts were then interrupted by her mobile.

"Lisbon."

"Hey boss, where's Jane?"

It was Rigsby.

"Why?"

"He's in trouble. Red John."

Lisbon hung up the phone. Crap. Why did she send him home?

She dialed his number.

Ring… ring…

MENTALMIXUP

Ring… ring…

It was most likely Lisbon calling. He didn't need that right now. She was obviously just annoyed at him because he was right. It was true. Jane rejected the call, then took out his keys to unlock the front door.

MENTALMIXUP

He knelt by the mattress, under the dark, blood, smiley face, awaiting the officers to find their friend.

He decided he'd change his routine, blow up the victim and the crime scene, AND the officers. He reached into his bag and pulled out the bomb.

MENTALMIXUP

Lisbon swore under her breath as she half-jogged into Hightower's office where she met the team.

"Red John is most likely in Jane's house. We need to get there NOW." Lisbon said whilst catching her breath and putting on a bulletproof vest.

Hightower then replied, "Vanpelt, Rigsby and Cho you go, I have to talk with agent Lisbon."

Lisbon's expression was one of shock and almost hurt as the rest of her team hurried out toward the elevator.

"Yes ma'am?" Lisbon asked hurriedly and frustrated, only just managing to contain her anger.

"What makes you so sure he's at his house?"

"Because I sent him home."

"But why at his house?"

"I locked the roof access. Where else would he go?"

MENTALMIXUP

Jane could hear something coming from upstairs. A cat perhaps? The window must have been left open.

He started up the stairs, dropping the keys over the railing to the carpet below.

MENTALMIXUP

Someone was in the house. Yes. The CBI. He was here, coming up the stairs. He took the bomb and set it for just the right amount of time. Then he fled out the open window. Fools.

MENTALMIXUP

Although Hightower had kept Lisbon back she arrived at Jane's house at the same time as the other agents. They were already inside, and going slowly up the stairs.

Lisbon hurried in and soon was at Vanpelt's heels.

"Something isn't right…" Rigsby murmured under his breath as he reached out for the door.

MENTALMIXUP

Jane sat down on the top step of Lisbon's apartment. She had told him to go 'home' and seeing as he couldn't stay at the CBI, he had taken her keys and gotten in. It was peaceful there, he didn't want to go back to his house and be taunted by the smiley. He'd better call Lisbon and apologise.

Ring… ring…

MENTALMIXUP

Ring… ring…

Crap! Why was someone calling her now? Lisbon rejected the call, and faced back to the door, almost gave the nod to Rigsby, then

BOOM!

MENTALMIXUP

He watched from the beach as the room went up in flames.

**MENTALMIXUP**

**Phew! Yeah that one was a bit long, but hey, it makes up for the time I didn't write. PLEASE REVIEW! We are very interested in what you think! Thanks.**


	4. Chapter 4

**After trying about 2084828292 times to log in, because I couldn't remember the password and Mentalgal is not online to tell me what it is, I FINALLY figured out that I had the password right… but the e-mail was wrong. Whoops XP But, I'm here now! And I've been writing ALL weekend! I hope you all enjoy this, and I'm very sorry about how long it took, but I hope I made it up to you by the chapter length :) Please let us know what you think of the story, and we'll be sure to continue for you guys! Thanks for supporting us, we love you all! *hug!***

**Thank you to xxxjisbonxxx, glouton-mana, Taylor Grace, GoTobann, and bluecup94 for reviewing the last chapter!**

**Now, I'll stop rambling, and let you read the story! enjoy! :D**

_Disclaimer- nope, not ours :)_

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Chapter 4

_by funnygirlOoObroadwaybaby_

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The tea kettle whistled, calling him back from his spot on her couch, where he curiously flipped through a photo album he had found on one of her bookshelves. Jane made sure the book remained open to the page he was last on before hurrying to the kitchen, sliding the kettle off the hot burner.

When he returned with his hot cup of tea, he resumed his snooping. If Lisbon was going to kick him out of headquarters for the day, he might as well make good use of his time off. The album he was looking at contained all sorts of baby pictures of Lisbon and her brothers, her parents and other relatives. Each picture was labeled in a hand writing Jane did not recognize as Lisbon's messy half cursive, half chicken scratch writing. This was more neat, organized. He assumed it had been her mother who had put it together, because of the handwriting and none of the pictures seemed to go past Lisbon at the age of 12.

Reaching the end of that book, he stood and walked back to her bookshelves, crouching to read the labels of the albums on the bottom shelf. One read "Tommy, Lilah and Family" and another read "Michael, Ann and Family," with the name Ann Lisbon at the bottom of each, showing the creator of the collections of family memories; but off to the side, a thinner binder, obviously not as fancy as the others, was simply labeled 'Mom.'

He slid the flesh coloured binder out and sat with it on her couch. He began to flip through it, the first few pages holding some baby and childhood photos of her mother. And then he came across the news paper clippings: "Drunk Driver Kills on Main Street," he stopped flipping. Bringing it closer to his face, he began to read the words on the yellowed news paper. Before he got farther than the third sentence, however, he was disrupted by the ringing of his cell phone. By the ringtone, he already knew it was Hightower.

"Hello Madeline," he grinned, sounding completely unsuspicious, placing the binder on the coffee table and leaning back with his phone, "what can I d-"

"Get to your Malibu house right now, there's been an accident," she cut him off.

"What? What do you mean?" he sat back up, she had his complete attention now.

"It was an explosion, just get here as soon as you can." she continued.

"...Why the hurry?" His house, the memories, of Charlotte, of Angela, that wretched red smiley face above his mattress. Destroyed. But, aside from the memories of the house being destroyed by the flames that had sure engulfed it, why was there the underlying tone of urgency in Hightower's voice?

"The team, they were here." Jane was almost sure his heart had stopped.

"The team?" it was all he could say.

"Yes, we're still searching for them, the explosion was pretty bad. Just come as soon as you can." she said hurriedly.

"Of course, I'm coming." he hung up, grabbed his jacket and was out the door before he even knew he had gotten up.

OoO

Smoke was still emanating from the house when he arrived. He pulled his car in the first open space he could find and parked, getting out and running to where he saw Hightower on the phone.

"I'll call you back," she hung up with whoever she was talking to when she saw Jane coming her way. "The entire second floor is destroyed," she spoke the obvious, as his house no longer had a roof and you could see spots where some of the second floor still stood. "We've found Van Pelt and Cho since I called you. Cho's got a few burns and some cuts, but overall he's okay. Van Pelt's got the same, along with a shattered arm and some bruising on her ribs. They're in the ambulances back there," she pointed behind where they were standing, but Jane didn't look. He couldn't take his eyes off of the destroyed house in front of him; the thought that this was where two people he loved had been murdered stood in the back of his mind, while the thought that two people that he cared about were still somewhere buried beneath the rubble of the explosion took control and he raced towards the house before Hightower spoke another word.

He entered the house and joined in the search with the firemen, police, and a few neighbors he recognized but never talked to. He could see pieces of different rooms of his house littering the floor; tiles from the bathroom, wood from the hallways. Lisbon and Rigsby were somewhere beneath it all; he needed to find them. Something told him that this was Red John. It wasn't his usual MO, but he could feel it. He knew. And he refused to lose more people to him. In a rage, he began ripping through the pieces on the floor, digging for skin, hair, clothing, life.

"We've got him!" he heard a shout from the opposite side of the room and he turned, seeing two firemen pulling Rigsby's lifeless body from the ground. "He's breathing!" They got him onto a gurney and brought it outside of the house, or what was left of the house, anyway.

Rigsby was outside. He was safe. Now they just had to find Lisbon. Jane began searching faster and faster, harder and harder, throwing pieces behind him. He collapsed to his knees, his heart almost pounding through his chest. He had to find her. That's when a tiny piece of black cloth caught his eye. It was a piece of her blazer. Before he knew what he was doing he was uncovering more and more of her torso, and finally uncovered her enough to pull her the rest of the way out. Her face was blackened from the soot that had come off of the burnt walls and flooring. It was bruised too. Really bruised. And burnt. He almost couldn't bare to look at her, thinking about how much pain it would cause her. He clung to her, his eyes watering as he yelled to the others.

"I found her!" and soon people were surrounding him, checking her pulse, placing a blanket over her and putting her on a gurney. He continued to hold her hand and rushed with them out of the house and to an ambulance, the paramedics working all the way there. Soon he was pushed out of the way and watched as they hooked Lisbon up to all sorts of different machines, placing an oxygen mask over her face. He stood and watched as the doors to the ambulance closed, and it took off following in the path of the other three that had left only moments before.

After a few moments, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Jane," it was Hightower, "they'll be okay."

Lisbon had been so lifeless in his arms. Aside from the bruises and blackened spots, her face had been so pale. So empty. He knew she was much worse than 'okay.'

"Are you going to come to the hospital? I can drive you, if you don't feel like you can drive." Hightower offered.

"No," he said, his voice almost ghostly, "I'm gunna stay here. Look around."

"I'll wait." Hightower said, leaving no room for argument. He left her, then, walking back towards his house. Looking inside it, he realized he was not ready to go back inside. Not yet. He walked around the house, his hands behind his back, looking down at his shoes.

Another group of people he cared about, he _loved_, hurt because of him. When would this torture end? Wasn't killing his family enough, or was he going to have to suffer for the rest of his life. Always having that deathly shadow overhead, haunting him.

He looked up at the giant hole in his house. The bomb had obviously originated in his room. But, Lisbon and the team were at the door to his room when it went off. How could Red John get away? How...

The window.

Jane rushed to underneath where the window used to be, hearing the crunch of glass beneath his feet. Red John must have jumped out the window. Bushes lined that side of his house. He searched through them, looking for something, some clue that could lead him to Red John's identity.

And then he found it.

"Hightower!" he shouted, leaning closer to examine his finding.

"Jane? Is something wrong?" Hightower came running around the corner.

"Look!" Jane pointed. "Get it!" Hightower leaned closer, a look of shock spreading across her face.

"Do you think it's from Red John?" she asked, slapping on her gloves and reaching for what Jane had found. Picking it up, she slipped it into an evidence bag.

"Yes, I do." he took the bag from her and held it up in front of his face, "Look, blood."

"I'll send this to forensics, have them run it through the system." Hightower took it back and put it in her pocket, "We should get to the hospital now, we should check on how they're doing." Jane just nodded and they both got into her car. Jane didn't look back. He couldn't. That house had caused him so much pain, yet so much joy, he couldn't look back. He didn't need that conflict in his heart at the moment.

OoO

Jane was slumped in the uncomfortable black chair in the waiting room of the hospital. It had been a few hours since he had gotten there, and Lisbon was still in surgery. He barely knew anything more than he did before. He now knew she had three broken ribs and third degree burns on her arms, but other than that, he didn't know anything about how she was doing.

Cho was fine, overall, considering. If it hadn't been for the smoke inhalation, then he would have been right out of the hospital. Being the only one conscious/not on heavy pain medication, he told the story. They had opened the door to Jane's room only slightly before the bomb had gone off. Rigsby had opened it, and Cho was standing mostly behind him, so when the door exploded and flew into Rigsby, he had taken most of the blow and burns, until the floor had collapsed beneath them and the entire house caught on fire.

Van Pelt had murmured something about thanking Lisbon when she was first administered her pain medications for her shattered arm. She said something about Lisbon jumping in front of her, but no one could get a clear story from her, as she was so pumped full of drugs should could barely form a sentence. Her arm had been completely shattered from the fall when the floor had collapsed, and she had a few bruised ribs, so for now, the pain medication was a very good thing for her.

Rigsby had been in and out of consciousness ever since they had arrived. So many pieces of that damned door had been lodged into his leg, and he had lost a lot of blood. 2nd degree burns lined his arms and face, but overall, he would be okay.

Lisbon, however, was a different matter. She had been in surgery for three hours, the doctors trying to repair her broken ribs, one of which had punctured her lung. He hadn't heard any updates for two hours, the last one saying that they had gotten all the pieces of shrapnel out of her and they had treated the burns on her arms, but that they would leave extensive scarring. She wont be happy with that, he thought.

After what seemed like an eternity, one of Lisbon's surgeons walked into the waiting room.

"Mr. Jane?" he called into the room, it hadn't been the one Jane had talked to before. Jane stood and met the man across the room.

"How's Teresa?" he asked first thing.

"She's doing well. We got her stable, and fixed the puncture in her lung. She's still unconscious, and we're not sure how long it will be until she comes out of it. Within the next few days, at least. She's lucky you found her when you did, any longer and she definitely would not be here now."

"When can I see her?" he asked, letting the last comment brush over him. The thought was too much for him to handle right now.

"She's being taken to the intensive care unit right now; I'll send someone to get you when she's situated."

"Thank you." Jane sat back down in his chair, watching the doctor leave from where he came in.

As Jane sat there, he realized he almost _didn't_ want to see Lisbon. He didn't want to see her looking so... frail. Vulnerable. She wouldn't _want_ him to see her looking like that. But he had to see her. He had to assure himself that she was alright. She would be alright. Maybe not the same, but she'd live. That was what was most important. She would _live_.

It was only about ten minutes before a nurse came into the waiting room for him, leading him to Lisbon's room. Jane thanked her before he reached for the door. Taking a deep breath, he opened it and stepped inside.

The shock of what he saw stopped him in his tracks.

Lisbon's usual flowey black hair was choppy in parts, obviously from being burnt in the fire. Her face had many burns, matching the ones that ran down her neck. Her arm was heavily bandaged, protecting the 3rd degree burns from infection, he supposed. He couldn't see it, but he knew her ribs were wrapped beneath the white sheets.

He finished examining her, pulling up a chair at her bedside. He took her hand gently in his, as if worried about waking her, although he knew she would not wake for a while. Finally, he spoke the first words to her, as if it were a normal conversation in her office.

"I have a theory."

He continued, expressing every idea, thought, and conclusion that came to his head. "Who else would know I was home? Unless someone inside the CBI had contact with them, somewhere along the lines mentioning that you had sent me home. That would give them time to get to my house, and extra time since I didn't even go there, sorry about that by the way. I was at your house, but we'll talk about that later." he paused, "Or not." he thought about how angry she'd be with him, laughing his last remark off with a light smile. "The evidence I found at the house, in the bush, Hightower sent to be run through the system. I know who's name we'll get as a result. Believe me. When have I ever been wrong before?" he paused, as if waiting for one of Lisbon's sarcastic answers. He'd give anything to see her roll her eyes at him just about now.

"I'm sorry this happened to you, Lisbon. It's my fault. I should have just gone home. It would be me in that hospital bed, not you. You don't deserve this. Everything that happens to you as a result of my idiocy, or Red John... you don't deserve it. I'm sorry." he brought her hand, on her non-3rd degree burned arm, up to his lips and kissed it, shutting his eyes and holding her hand to his mouth, the contact comforting him as tears threatened to spill onto his cheeks.

A buzzing in his pocket broke the moment, and he gently placed her hand down at her side. Standing, he walked across the room and answered his phone.

"Jane," Hightower started before he said a word, "are you alone?"

He looked back at Lisbon, still lying unconscious in the starched hospital bed.

"Yes." he said heavy heartedly.

"The results came back on the blood that was on the piece of fabric you found at your house." Hightower seemed out of breath, it must be big news, he thought.

"And?" he pushed her on.

"It's not good." she paused, taking a deep breath, "The match... it was O'Laughlin."


	5. Chapter 5

Ok now first I'd like to say sorry! To all of our readers and to Devon for how long I have made you wait yet again. I'm so sorry and I thank you all for your patience. Secondly I would like to thank my good friend Taz (Taylor Grace) for, let's say… encouraging me to get this chapter done xD Thanks to all our readers, this is mentalgal, enjoy.

"Jane?"

He flipped his phone closed and looked down at Lisbon. He knew a time like this would come. He knew there would be many to come. A time when it was either to be there for his best friend, or to continue on the hunt for Red John. Unfortunately, he chose the latter.

"Teresa..." he let his voice trail off in the last syllable. He grasped her hand again and was met with a confused expression.

"I was…" she squeezed her eyes shut, almost as if it was hurting her to force the memory, "Rigsby opened the… Van Pelt. Is she okay?"

"She's fine, they're all fine. The important thing is that you get your rest. Lisbon, I am sorry but I have to go."

Jane had let go of Lisbon's hand and was getting his jacket to leave when a small sparkle caught his eye behind him. He turned to see a tear running down his colleague's bruised and bandaged cheek.

"Jane please."

He could hear how scared and confused she was in her voice, and he hated it. This wasn't the Lisbon he knew. This was a weak, vulnerable Lisbon. She needed someone there for her, to make her strong again.

"I'm Sorry." he put his coat on and although he saw another glint of light in the corner of his eye, he refused to look back. He needed to find Red John. Or whoever was in his house.

Lisbon's vision was blurred, everything hurt, it hurt to move, it hurt to breathe, it hurt to blink or smile or cry, she didn't know what had happened. The last thing she could remember was jumping out in front of Van Pelt to save her from the blast.

She had tried to remain herself, but the pain had taken over. When she thought about it, the pain had taken over a long time ago. She started off weak, vulnerable, then when her mother died, she was so weak she almost… but then, she had to be strong, for her brothers. She had to be strong with the pain of her father's abuse and her mother's absence building a thick wall around her personal emotions, around her heart. That had made her strong. Because she had something to live for. Now what did she have? No family was here at the hospital. No- her thoughts were interrupted by a familiar sound, a sound that would usually cause her to reach for her gun, but she couldn't move. The pain was too strong.

Jane had been hitting the computer for some time before he heard a voice that made his blood run cold.

"Hey Jane, have you seen Grace? I heard you guys got caught up in a bit of trouble and I was just wondering where she is?"

Craig mustn't have known about what they found at the scene…

"Uh, she's fine… a bit shaken up but I'm sure she'll be alright…" Jane was dialing Hightower's number into his phone in his pocket as he stood.

"Hey ahh… what you doing there?" Craig asked, leaning to see the computer screen.

Jane turned off the monitor and said, "Case work… nothing really, just going over some old Red John cases…"

"So… where's Grace?" O'Laughlin' asked.

"Who? Oh yes, um… at he hospital." Jane had just pressed the call button when he heard what made his already cold blood turn to ice.

Ring ring, ring ring…

"Oops!" said Craig, "Sorry, that's mine…"

He pulled out what Jane knew to be Hightower's phone and without looking at the caller pressed reject.

Jane let out a breath he didn't know what he was holding and Craig noticed.

"So… are we going to the hospital or…" Jane said to distract Craig.

"Sure…" Craig said, sounding a little unsure of what was going on, "I'll drive…"

Lisbon wanted to get up, to run away, to call for help, anything, but she couldn't. Her mouth was sealed closed with pain, and her whole body screamed at her to stay still. The button that alerted the nurses was completely out of reach. She couldn't move.

The glint that Jane had ignored when he left Lisbon's room was no tear. No.

It was a gun. And the gunman was wearing a cloak. The mystery gunman raised their hand up to their hood, and began to lift it. Threads of light fell on his face.

**Thanks for reading – hope you liked it – You are supposed to be feeling suspense… are you? Let us know in a review! :D Over to you devon!**


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